We see 5G adoption happening in India with new use cases: Borje Ekholm, CEO, Ericsson

The demand slowdown in India in 2024 was expected as telcos had rapidly rolled out and expanded 5G last year, said Borje Ekholm, chief executive of Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson. The company Tuesday reported a 42% fall in mobile networks segment sales, dragged by India, South-East Asia and Oceania. Speaking to ET’s Kiran Rathee, Ekholm said 5G is in its early stages and a rebound could be some years away, depending on the development of use cases, especially industrial ones, which will start generating revenue for telcos. He added Vodafone Idea has been under financial stress for a long time and Ericsson is open to working with the telco for 5G. Edited excerpts: